Imprisoned in the castle of the Demon King, all spoiled-sweet Princess Syalis dreams of is a good night’s sleep! Shhh...

Kidnapped by the Demon King and imprisoned in his castle, Princess Syalis is…bored.

She decides to while away the hours by sleeping, but getting a good night’s rest turns out to be a lot of work! She begins by fashioning a DIY pillow out of the fur of her Teddy Demon guards and an “air mattress” from the magical Shield of the Wind. The princess’s hapless demonic guards soon discover that their captive expects to be treated like, well, a princess. Things go from bad to worse—for her captors—when some of Princess Syalis’s schemes end in her untimely—if temporary—demise and she chooses the Forbidden Grimoire for her bedtime reading…

I love manga because sometimes I find a title that speaks to me on a cellular level, a title that fundamentally gets who I am.

So today we’re taking a look at Sleepy Princess in the Demon Castle.

Obviously, this is my unofficial biography.

The humans and demons (in this case think fantasy-type monsters of varying degrees) are at war and the demons kidnap Princess Syalis to have an upper hand. The princess could care less. She's only put out by the fact that it’s SO HARD to sleep well in the Demon Castle, you guys. So, she becomes a master at jail breaks...but only to get herself more personal comfort. Add in things like teddy bear demons, her making bedding from ghost shrouds, her accidentally dying a few times (she really puts the cleric through a lot), and I just...it’s hysterical. Syalis is so unaware of anything but her goal, and the demons just do not know how to take her.

The good: This is a cute, witty, hilarious read. All four volumes I've seen do not disappoint. What could be a tired gag is kept fresh from chapter to chapter, and there's some nice slow character work done. By volume four Syalis is starting to kinda have an inkling beyond her selfish whims (but not enough to detract from who she is) and the demons (even the king) realize they kinda don't want her to leave. There's also some nice comparison to game play, and the king always tries to give the hero who’s trying to rescue Syalis a fair chance (and it’s usually ruined by Syalis, herself). It’s a title that knows what it is and is comfortable sticking to what it does best.

The bad: For me, nothing. I could see if a reader wants something with a faster arc of a more serious narrative this may not work, but I love this take on the fantasy genre. Like anything else, some bits work better than others, but nothing feels slow or ineffective to me.

The ick: Nothing overt or in your face. There are some pretty blatant innuendo and misunderstandings (the king misreads her request to hit her pressure points as seduction at one point), do this is probably a teen and up title. I find it all pretty hilarious, and there’s nothing graphic.

All in all, one of my favorite newer titles.

4.5 sheep

About the Author:

website-FB-twitterSelah Janel is a writer who is trying to start doing that again instead of reading manga all the time.